ZIP 08251 vs ZIP 08242

This side-by-side compares ZIP 08251 (Villas, NJ) and ZIP 08242 (Rio Grande, NJ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 08251 has a population of 10,364 at 633 people per square mile, while ZIP 08242 has 3,216 at 246 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 08251 reports a median household income of $83,637 against $93,250 in ZIP 08242, with per-capita income of $42,430 vs $45,552. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.2% in 08251 and 33.6% in 08242. Poverty rate reads 9.1% vs 9.5%, and unemployment 9.4% vs 3.1% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $290,200 in 08251 versus $318,300 in 08242, with median rent of $1,722 and $1,305 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.9% vs 77.6%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.